Just Started Things
by xxxraquelita
Summary: Santana went to visit her grandmother at the hospital and never expected what she got after she got into the elevator.


[**Author's Note**: This is thanks to my friend Dani, who listened to me whine about how I couldn't find a reverse-bang to write for and so she drew me a picture (http:/ theaudienceiscalling. tumblr. com/post/16443638562 - just take out the spaces) to write about. I completely missed the part where she said they were in the hallway, and I thought it was either an elevator or prison. So I went with that.]

Santana Lopez stood in the lobby of the hospital, waiting for an elevator to take her up to the floor she needed. She wasn't really looking forward to being there, all things considered. It was a really gloomy day out, and she had wanted to go straight home after school. Her mom insisted she go visit her grandmother, and it wasn't like Santana had anything _against_ her grandmother, it was just that she had so many other things she needed to be doing. Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't been visiting. She'd come over the weekend with her parents, but her mom kept telling her she should go on her own, get some one on one time.

She jabbed her finger against the button again, as if that would make the elevator get down to the ground floor faster. Her gaze flitted over to the entrance as a tall, blonde girl came scuffling in. She had an umbrella that was dripping from the rain, and it clearly hadn't been that helpful since she was looking rather damp herself. Lightning flashed through the windows over the doorway, and Santana wrinkled her nose. She just hoped that the whole storm would be over by the time she was leaving, because she really didn't feel like driving home through it.

Her attention turned back to the doors in front of her as she heard the ding that signalled the elevator had reached the ground level. She took a step to the side as a group of people filed out of it, and once they were all out she moved inside. "Going up?" she heard a light voice ask, and she looked up to see the blonde girl stepping into the elevator with her. Santana bit back her immediate response, which was that there was nothing in the basement, but she remembered right before she spoke that they were in a hospital and most likely there was someone the other girl knew who was sick, so being a bitch to her might not be the best idea.

"Yeah," she answered, reaching over to press the button, but the other girl pushed it before she had the chance.

"Sorry," the blonde girl said, but she didn't look very apologetic. "I like pushing buttons." That was the only explanation she gave, and then she just stood there facing the doors as they closed. Santana briefly wondered if she was headed to the psychiatric ward for herself. She leaned against the wall, looking the girl over. There wasn't anything familiar about her, which was odd considering they were the same age. She had to be from a different school, which was weird it was Lima.

The girl's skirt looked familiar, a cheerleading skirt, the rest of her uniform probably hidden away by the jacket she was wearing. It was very similar to the one Santana was wearing, but purple instead of red. That settled it, then. She was from Carmel High School, which made Santana regret holding in her comments about the basement and the psych ward. If there was one school that drove her insane, it was Carmel. They were McKinley's rivals, and even worse, the only people that even came close to being as good as McKinley when it came to cheerleading. Coach Sylvester had pretty much put out a mandate to take them out on sight. And Santana was in an elevator with one. That girl was lucky she had nice legs, otherwise Santana might have considered roughing her up a little before they got to their floor.

Her eyes had just moved up past her skirt and to the backpack the girl was wearing, which looked like a frog, when the elevator slammed to a stop. Santana's head hit the wall hard, and the last thing she saw was that stupid frog backpack staring at her.

When she regained consciousness, her head was throbbing, but she couldn't see anything. It was pitch black in the elevator, and the only thing she could hear was a whimpering coming from close beside her. "What happened?" she asked in a groan, shifting to move but stopping when she felt something against her arm. She ran her fingertips over it, feeling the soft, plush texture and sighing when she realized what it was.

"I don't know." The girl from Carmel sounded scared, and Santana sat up.

"Where the hell did you get a teddy bear?" Santana grumbled, leaning back against the wall of the elevator and cradling her head in her hands.

"It was in my bag," she said, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Santana looked around, as if somehow she would be able to see something in the dark. Surely there were supposed to be security lights on elevators, but there weren't.

"What happened, anyway?" she asked, shoving the stuffed animal away. She couldn't remember much other than a jolt and then a lot of pain.

"I don't know."

Santana rolled her eyes, huffing in annoyance. Her head hurt and there was nothing helpful coming from the other girl in the elevator. "Do you know _anything_?" She snapped, stretching her legs out in front of her on the floor and bumping against the other girl's feet.

"Well it just stopped and you fell over and all the lights went out and I thought you were hurt," the other girl said, and Santana could hear her shifting around. She was a lot closer than Santana had though, and her voice was still soft but at least it sounded like she wasn't about to burst into tears anymore. "What I _don't_ know is why you're being so mean. I know this is scary, and I'm really scared too, but _I'm_ not being mean."

Santana blinked into the darkness, wishing she could see the other girl. She hadn't sounded offended about her being mean, she just sounded honestly confused. Briefly, she thought about how there's no way that girl would last on the Cheerios with questioning the slightest moment of harshness, but then how was she managing on Carmel's squad? They were just as competitive as the Cheerios, even if they weren't quite as good, but still. "How long was I out?"

"Like, five minutes." A light shone from a couple feet away, and Santana blinked as her eyes adjusted. The other girl had her cellphone out, and was looking down at it to check the time. It caused an eerie glow in elevator, but at least they could see each other for that brief moment before the light went out from lack of use of the phone. Honestly, it was the first time Santana had gotten a good look at her face. She was pretty, with wide eyes and an almost endearing way that she was scrunching up her face in concentration. "What's your name?"

"Santana." She took out her phone, checking to see if she had any signal to call out for help, but it was no use. "You?"

"Brittany." There was another scuffling sound and then she heard Brittany sigh from right beside her. "I tried pressing the alarm button but nothing happened."

"Did you try the call button?" Santana asked, using her phone to look up at the buttons next to her head. She glanced back as she heard Brittany move, and saw her shaking her head. Her arm stretched up and she pressed the call button, sitting up a little more. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Nothing but silence. She waited a few seconds before pressing the button again and repeating herself. When there still wasn't an answer, the jabbed at the alarm button a few times before smacking the wall in frustration. "Shit!"

"I'm sure someone's working on fixing it," Brittany said quietly, and Santana looked over at her and saw that she had her knees pulled up to her chest and was hugging them. The light from her phone went out and she sunk back against the wall with a sigh.

"Yeah, but who knows how long we'll be stuck here." Santana's tone was getting short again, and she got to her feet and pressed all the buttons she could feel, hoping that something would happen. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She stood up on her tiptoes and felt along the ceiling with the fingertips of one hand, holding her phone up with her other hand so she could see what she was feeling.

"What are you doing?"

She glared down at the girl on the floor. Couldn't she at least try to care that they were trapped? "Trying to find a way out. There's always a door or something up here in movies and stuff," Santana muttered, stamping her foot in annoyance. "I need to be taller." Brittany stood up, moving over beside her.

"Here, let me try," Brittany said, reaching up to the ceiling. Santana held the phone up for her, and watched the other girl stretch up and feel around. She wasn't _that _much taller than her, but it was enough that she could actually feel what she was doing. "There's nothing there. Or, if there is, it's not going to open." The corners of her mouth turned down in a frown, almost a pout, and Santana couldn't help but frown either. Except she was almost certain she wasn't as cute as the other girl when she frowned. "Sorry."

"Well this is just great," Santana muttered, stepping back and leaning against the wall.

"Why are you so angry?" Brittany asked, looking over at Santana through her thick lashes. "I know we're stuck, but..."

"I don't like you," Santana said simply. A look of confusion quickly took over Brittany's features.

"But why?" she asked, chewing on her lip. "I mean, _I _didn't break the elevator."

"You're from _Carmel_," Santana said, pointedly emphasizing her words as if they explained everything that needed to be said. The other girl's brow remained furrowed, and it was almost as if Santana could see the wheels trying to turn in her head, but to no avail.

"I don't... get it." Brittany hands dropped to her sides as she tilted her head, watching Santana in the dim light from the phone as she frowned.

"I'm from McKinley. You're our rivals. _Especially_," she hastened to add, "where cheerleading is concerned." Her gaze flitted down to Brittany's skirt for a brief moment before it moved back up to her face, giving her a look. "Get it now?"

"I didn't know," Brittany mumbled, self-consciously fidgeting with her skirt. "We just moved here and I just got on the squad. Today's the first day I had my uniform, even." Santana faltered for a moment. That explained why Brittany hadn't recognized her, because obviously she was probably known by all of Carmel's squad after the thorough ass kicking McKinley had given them the year prior, with her as captain. Acting on impulse when it came to Carmel, well, that usually worked for her, but she did feel a little bit bad about going after Brittany when the other girl had nothing to go against.

"Right, well, still." Santana folded her arms across her chest, but had lost most of her steam. Had it been anyone who actually knew how things worked between the two schools, she would have had no problem laying into them. The problem was that Brittany looked like a kitten that had been kicked across the room, and she had no idea what Santana had been talking about. She watched as the other girl stooped down to grab the discarded teddy bear, hugging it in close. "Look, forget it."

"I'm sorry," Brittany said, her gaze meeting hers again. "I mean I didn't know and I didn't mean..." She broke off and Santana squinted through the darkness, trying to see her clearer. Was she _crying_? Santana frowned, and felt a tug inside when she heard the other girl sniffle. "I'm sorry."

"Hey..." There was only so much Santana could take, and a cute girl crying was not on the list of things she could tolerate. Especially when it was her fault, and when she should have just kept her mouth shut in the first place. "It's my fault, I'm... just used to getting that kind of shit right back from people from Carmel. I shouldn't have said... especially not here." She couldn't help but mentally kick herself for going after her in a _hospital_ of all places.

"Let's just forget it, okay?" Brittany wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, offering her a hint of a smile. "I mean, we're stuck in here together, so..." She reached out, lightly taking Santana's had and squeezing it before dropping down to the floor and sitting cross-legged. "Why are you here?"

Santana sunk down to the floor again, glad that her head wasn't throbbing any more and tapped on the screen of her phone to keep the light on. "My grandma. She's been here for a while and she's fine, almost ready to go home, but in need of company or whatever." She shrugged, smoothing out her shirt. "You?"

"My little brother, he's really sick." Brittany chewed on her lip and hugged the teddy bear in even closer. "That's why I was bringing Mr. Fluffles, because he always fixes things when they're not good. Like, he made you wake up," she said, nodding toward Santana and rearranging the bear's arms. "So he can definitely help my brother." Santana stared at her for a moment before she realized she wasn't kidding about anything. It was oddly endearing that she thought a teddy bear could solve problems like that.

"So that's a pretty special bear then, huh?" she asked, scooting a little closer so she could actually see the stuffed animal the other girl was clutching to her stomach. "Mr. Fluffles, was it?" Brittany nodded and loosened her hold on the bear a little, so Santana could see him. "Well I'm sure he'll help your brother get better."

"I hope so. I don't remember exactly what's wrong with him because it was a weird word that I hadn't heard before, but my mom said it would take lots of extra special care for him to get better," Brittany trailed off, biting her lip. She looked like she might cry again, and that wasn't something that Santana wanted to have happen. So she moved over to sit next to her, hesitantly slipping her arm through the other girl's and hugging it lightly.

"It'll be alright, Brittany," she said, smiling a little bit when Brittany laid her head on her shoulder, her blonde hair tickling against her neck. "This is a really good hospital. I've lived in Lima my whole life and this place has taken care of so many people I know. Besides, my dad works here, so it has to be a good place because he's really good at his job. He wouldn't work someplace that couldn't take care of people's little brothers."

"Really?" Brittany sniffled, hugging the bear in closer with one arm and clinging to Santana's with the other. "I mean, I'm not usually scared about him and stuff cause he's really tough but he's never been sick like this. Never anything that's been in the hospital." She turned her face against Santana's shoulder, wiping her tears off on her jacket. "And I really hate the dark," she added in a whisper.

Santana tapped the screen of her phone again to keep the dim glow of it from going out. "I don't like it that much either." She just hoped that the battery on her phone wouldn't go out anytime soon. It hadn't been fully charged in the first place, and then after spending the whole day at school and not charging it on the drive over, well there was a good chance that it would. There was always the hope that Brittany's phone had a good enough charge to keep them out of the dark if Santana's phone did end up dying. "It'll be okay, though. Cause you're not by yourself, you've got me and Mr. Fluffles. And I bet he's a good guard bear when he's not fixing sick people."

"Yeah, he is." Brittany's voice was barely audible, but at least she didn't seem to be crying anymore. "He's a really good guard bear." They sat in silence for a few minutes, just huddled in close to each other and trying not to focus on where they were. It was almost easy to do, without the familiar, constant mechanic sounds that usually accompanied elevators. Santana was grateful for not being claustrophobic, and that Brittany wasn't either. She wasn't enjoying the fact that they were stuck in an elevator, but she at least realized that it could have been much worse than it was.

"Thanks," Brittany murmured, and her head lifted up Santana's shoulder right as the light on her phone went out. She reached to tap it again, but got startled out of it when she felt Brittany's lips press against the corner of her mouth. The other girl pulled back, but Santana couldn't see her expression in the dark. "Sorry, I was... aiming for your cheek."

Her heart was racing, and she just sat there frozen to the spot. She'd kissed so many people, and been kissed so many times, but never by a girl. Never by anyone who had lips that felt even half as soft as Brittany's had for the brief second they'd been touching her skin. She felt Brittany's arm pulling out from hers, and she grabbed onto her hand before she could move away. "Wait."

She wasn't quite sure why she stopped her, because it's not like the other girl was going to go anywhere. Not like she _could_ go anywhere. Maybe it was because she was still trying to recover from the slight bit of shock, or because she didn't want the moment to pass before she did what she was thinking of doing. Her fingers loosened around Brittany's hand as she felt her settle back down beside her. She knew she should get her phone, turn the light back on, but she couldn't. Her hand trailed lightly up the other girl's arm, resting on her cheek for the briefest moment as a reference point before she leaned in and kissed her.

Brittany didn't pull away, and Santana let herself savor the moment. Everything about Brittany was soft and warm and her lips tasted like bubblegum and sweetness. It only took a few seconds before she forgot exactly what she was doing and kissed her a little more insistently, nipping at her lower lip. A soft, surprised sound from the other girl made her pull back, her palm still cupping Brittany's cheek as she took a few seconds to ground herself. "Sorry, I just... I've never done that... before."

"Why are you sorry?" There was a slight breathlessness to Brittany's voice, and that didn't help Santana at all with how she felt like she wanted to kiss her again. It had felt so much different than kissing boys, and she'd had plenty of practice to know that for sure. Her thumb brushed against Brittany's cheek, and she felt her head tilt into her touch.

"I don't know, I guess it just felt like the right thing to say?"

"Well you shouldn't be." Brittany turned her head and brushed her lips against Santana's palm. She felt her breath catch in her throat and she almost jerked her hand back, but she stopped herself. "You've never kissed someone before?"

"No, I have," Santana corrected quickly. "Just... not a girl." She felt Brittany smile against her hand, and that made the corners of her mouth turn up a little.

"Oh, well, you're good at it," Brittany murmured, and there was that stupid flutter in Santana's stomach that she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt the other girl lean in and she took in a deep breath. "I mean, I've kissed a bunch of girls and you're definitely better than any of them were." Her tone was still quiet, but she sounded so much closer. Santana's eyes closed as she felt Brittany's lips against her cheek, and then trail down to her lips, almost like she had been trying to figure out where she was kissing and how to get to where she wanted to be.

It was a lot less tentative than it had been when Santana initiated it. Brittany slid her hand around to the back of Santana's neck and threaded her fingers through her hair, her tongue ghosting over her lower lip. A soft moan escaped her, and she almost missed the whimper that Brittany gave. What she definitely didn't miss was the way Brittany's fingers were tightening in her hair, and how her tongue was slowly tracing her lips. It was different, better, than anyone before. Most guys were aggressive, fumbling, thrusting their tongues into her mouth with no pretense of finesse. Brittany was taking her sweet time, almost to the point of teasing, and Santana let her lips part, and her tongue flitted out to meet Brittany's, earning another whimper from her.

She wasn't ready at all for it when Brittany shifted over onto her lap, her legs on either side of Santana's thighs and her tongue caressing against hers so willfully. Her hands slid down to the other girl's waist and her fingers knotted in the jacket she was wearing. There was just so much wanting behind everything that she was putting into the kiss, and she choked back a moan as the tip of Brittany's tongue ran along the roof of her mouth. Kissing Brittany made her feel so much more than she'd ever felt when she'd kissed someone, and she pulled her in closer. She could feel Brittany's legs pressed against hers, so smooth and soft, and their skirts were both barely blocking anything between them.

For the briefest moment, Santana wondered just how far things were going to go. They were so close, and the kiss had started to have too much tongue and teeth to be considered anything but sloppy, but neither of them seemed to care. Brittany was almost tugging on her hair and Santana couldn't deny that she liked how it felt. Her fingers loosened in the other girl's jacket and she inched them higher, her thumbs grazing against the undersides of her breasts as she worked up the nerve to move her hands over them fully, but she didn't get the chance.

They broke apart as the lights came on, and the elevator hummed to life and started to move again. Santana rest her head back against the wall, breathing heavily as she looked at the girl on her lap. Brittany leaned forward, resting her forehead against hers as she panted, her breath falling along Santana's face. She shifted over, sitting back beside her and sighing. "Sorry, I got... carried away."

"Why are you sorry?" Santana asked, almost teasingly looking over at her and she was rewarded with a smile from the other girl. She reached over and took Brittany's hand, squeezing it. Part of her was really annoyed at the power coming back on, because that meant she would never know what would have happened if it had stayed off. Her body was practically screaming for more in a way that she had never experienced. It was a scary feeling, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care about that part in that moment, because all she could think about was how they were almost to her floor and when she left the elevator she didn't know if she would ever see Brittany again.

"Hey, do you want some company for visiting your brother?" She looked over at Brittany as she asked, not quite sure why she asked but not regretting it at all when she saw the other girl's face brighten a little. "I mean, I know you're here by yourself and I just saw my grandma this weekend, and she wasn't expecting me so I can take some time before I see her..."

"You'd do that?" Brittany asked, reaching to grab the teddy bear that had gotten discarded to the side once they'd gotten distracted by kissing each other. "Even though I go to Carmel?" Santana gave her a look and she giggled. "I'm just kidding. I don't really like being here on my own, and that would be so nice of you." She leaned over and kissed Santana's cheek, her lips lingering there. Santana felt a blush creeping up her neck. Somehow it was different with the lights on. She got up to her feet and offered Brittany her hand, helping her up.

When the door to the elevator opened, they exited it together and Brittany led her down the hall. Their pinkies were linked and Santana couldn't help but smile. Sometimes things worked out in a way she never expected, but usually not after she had been unreasonably mean. She was glad that, for once, it had.


End file.
